New utility rates for Aledo

Sara Ortega

sortega@weatherforddemocrat.com

After holding three separate public hearings, Aledo City Council voted last night in a special agenda meeting on new water and sewer rates and approved a wastewater master plan designed by Freese and Nichols.

Chris Ekrut, senior consultant for J. Stowe and Co., made presentations on the new rates and gave the council three options for water and three for sewer they could choose to pair together.

In previous meetings, Ekrut said the council’s budget management has kept rates low this year, even though debt requirements require them to increase. All the rate options focus on putting more charges on the high-end consumers.

“Now that we’ve seen the master plan for wastewater, I’m here to figure out how we will pay for it,” Ekrut said. “Some of these improvements are already in the current debt and some we will need to update.”

The council chose alternative two for water and alternative three for sewer following staff recommendations.

“In alternative two we keep the meter charge the same and increasing the volumetric,” he explained. “We change the first block to 0-3,000 gallons from 0-1,000 gallons.”

Effective February 2010, the average water bill for a low-volume, 2,000-gallon consumer will decrease by $2.76 to $21.03 a month. A family-size, 5,000-gallon consumer’s bill will decrease by $2.72 to $29.35 a month. The increase hits high-volume consumers of 10,000 gallons by increasing the monthly bill by $4.94 to $52.10.

For sewer rates, Ekrut said alternative three includes the same additional 3,000 gallons and “mirrors alternative two on the water side.”

In alternative three, the only decrease is seen in 2,000-gallons consumers whose monthly bill will decrease by $3.72 to $27.85. Consumers of 5,000 gallons see a slight 4 cent increase to $37.19 a month and 10,000-gallon consumers will feel the largest increase by $14.09 to $60.54.

City Administrator Ken Pfeifer said Mayor Kit Marshall will compose a letter to be mailed out to residents on Jan.1 with attachments explaining the new rates.

Mayor Marshal also gave an update on the water quality in the Rolling Hills area after concern arose over misinformation distributed by a local television station about uranium levels.

“We know that the incorrect information from Channel 8 has caused concerns about our water quality,” she said in the press release. “I, as Mayor, want to assure you that concerns about Aledo’s water quality have been addressed and our water is very safe to drink. I live in Rolling Hills and drink the water every day.”

Councilman Bill McLeRoy said the council’s swift actions and dedication to the issue show water quality is a top priority in the city.

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